Nathan Broek | Sports Editor
Kade Griesse keeps his pace as he races through the first half of the George-Little Rock/Central Lyon home cross-country invitational Thursday, Oct. 4. Griesse finished 23rd in helping the Mustangs claim a fourth-place team finish. (Photo/Nathan Broek)
SIBLEY-The George-Little Rock/Central Lyon cross-country team had the opportunity to get another meet in at the Sibley-Ocheyedan Cross-Country Invitational Monday, Oct. 1, before the stretch run of the season and the Mustangs came away with some high finishes.
The George-Little Rock/Central Lyon boys took home the meet title with 17 points. The host school was the second-place team with 50 points.
“Coming off a big weekend at the Griak, being on the bus for seven hours, we knew going into Sibley was going to be a tough meet. We were going to be tired and I believe Sibley had run on Saturday also, so they were in the same boat as us,” said Mustangs’ coach Curt Fiedler. “They’re a good team. I think we were very fortunate to beat them.”
Leading the way was Joe Anderson as the individual meet champion. Daniel Schriever was eighth, Taeron Olson was ninth, Kade Griesse was 13th, Payton Mauldin took 14th, Martin Macias was 19th and Matt Haken was the final Mustang across the finish line in 21st.
“They (Sibley-Ocheyedan) put three guys ahead of our second guy. We were fortunate to block those guys, bunch them together and beat them at the tail end,” Fiedler said.
But at the same time the coach noted the Mustangs were not at full strength.
“I just felt we were tired and I just wish we could have run when we weren’t tired, but that’s how it goes,” he said. “We’re going to have more of those races as the season goes. It’s still interesting to see how we came back. I still thought we ran really well.”
The George-Little Rock/Central Lyon girls did not have a full team, but had plenty of runners that did well. Emily Greve was the top performer for the Mustang girls in sixth place with Sami Ebel right behind in seventh. Thea De Boer took 14th and Chloe Smit rounded out the lineup in 23rd.
“I thought Emily and Sami really ran well and they ran really close together. Emily ran 21:46 on a flat course and then Sami really ran a nice race. Then Thea ran what I thought was a pretty competitive race there also,” Fiedler said. “I thought those girls ran really, really well coming off a weekend like we had. We’re getting there.”
Sibley-Ocheyedan Cross-Country Invitational
Girls’ team results: 1. Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley 22, 2. West Lyon 36
Individual Mustang girls’ results: 6. Emily Greve 21:46, 7. Sami Ebel 22:07, 14. Thea De Boer 23:58, 23. Chloe Smit 26:04
Boys’ team results: 1. George-Little Rock/Central Lyon 45, 2. Sibley-Ocheyedan 50, 3. Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley 64, 4. Maple Valley-Anton-Oto 99, 5. West Lyon 117, 6. Ellsworth, Minnesota 151
Individual Mustang boys’ results: 1. Joe Anderson 16:19, 8. Daniel Schriever 17:12, 9. Taeron Olson 17:19, 13. Kade Griesse 17:44, 14. Payton Mauldin 17:46, 19. Martin Macias 17:52, 21. Matt Haken 18:09
G-LR/CL boys place fourth at a wet and cold home meet
GEORGE-The weather conditions were not what George-Little Rock/Central Lyon was hoping for its home invitational cross-country meet Thursday, Oct. 4, but the Mustangs were happy to get the meet in and get a better idea where they stand with the Siouxland Conference meet around the corner.
As the race time approached, the weather became rainy with temperatures in the low 40s. George-Little Rock/Central Lyon kept their home meet going on the campus of George-Little Rock High School.
“We were bound and determined to have our home meet,” said Mustangs’ coach Curt Fiedler. “It wasn’t lightning or anything like that. Was the temperature exactly the way we wanted it? No. Did the rain come at the wrong time? Absolutely it did.
“Looking at the forecast it didn’t look like it was going to rain as hard as it did and that’s one of the reasons we were going to do this,” Fiedler continued. “There may have been some people disappointed in us, but when it’s all said and done, I’m glad we did it.”
The George-Little Rock/Central Lyon boys, who came into this meet ranked fifth in Class 2A, finished fourth in the final team standings with 75 points. Okoboji, who is ranked fifth in Class 2A, won the meet with 67 points. Sioux Center, who is ranked second in Class 2A, took second with 68 points and Sibley-Ocheyedan, who is ranked sixth in Class 1A, was third with 73 points.
“I was really pleased at the end of the night when looking at the results to see that we were fourth but only 8 points out of first place. I was kind of shocked by that. We actually ran pretty well in a pretty difficult field,” Fiedler said.
Leading the way was Joe Anderson, who took home another individual title with an impressive time of 17:07.
“Joe was on a mission. I don’t know if there was one other kid in that race that looked like they were having as much fun as Joe Anderson was. He was like, ‘These are the conditions, I’m going to run in the conditions and I’m happy.’ That’s exactly how he looked from the beginning of the race to the end of the race,” Fiedler said.
Rounding out the boys’ varsity lineup were Daniel Schriever in 11th, Taeron Olson in 18th, Kade Griesse in 23rd, Payton Mauldin in 24th, Matt Haken in 27th and Martin Macias in 34th.
The George-Little Rock/Central Lyon girls were led by Emily Greve in 11th place and Sami Ebel in 21st. Rounding out the varsity lineup were Chloe Smit in 36th and Lauren Langholdt in 37th.
“The thing about the girls is you just have to look at the field. You’ve got some really, really good teams there. More importantly than that there’s some real good individuals there,” Fiedler said. “I thought last night that Emily Greve, again, ran a really, really consistent race. She seems to be, considering it’s her first year, able to adapt to anything. She’s getting better as the weeks go by.”
George-Little Rock/Central Lyon Cross-Country Invitational
Girls’ team results: 1. Okoboji 34, 2. Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley 50, 3. Sioux Center 66, 4. West Lyon 85, 5. Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn 105
Individual Mustang girls’ results: 11. Emily Greve 23:00, 21. Sami Ebel 24:05, 36. Chloe Smit 26:56, 37. Lauren Langholdt 29:26
Boys’ team results: 1. Okoboji 67, 2. Sioux Center 68, 3. Sibley-Ocheyedan 73, 4. George-Little Rock/Central Lyon 75, 5. Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley 118, 6. Trinity Christian 122, 7. West Lyon 183, 8. Ellsworth, Minnesota 223
Individual Mustang boys’ results: 1. Joe Anderson 17:07, 11. Daniel Schriever 18:34, 18. Taeron Olson 18:48, 23. Kade Griesse 19:21, 24. Payton Mauldin 19:22, 27. Matt Haken 19:25, 34. Martin Macias 19:50
